Manchester Airport Receives $7 million in Federal Grants
By Tim Heaney
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 – Manchester Airport was awarded $7 million in grants yesterday from the U.S. Department of Transportation to use for safety improvements and noise mitigation.
New Hampshire’s largest airport, which has already spent more than $500 million on improvements since 1994, will receive $2.5 million for noise abatement and $4.5 million for revamping damaged landing strips. The airport serviced 4 million passengers last year, an 11-percent increase over 2003.
“We are always appreciative of federal assistance as we are continuing to grow and develop,” Manchester Airport Director Kevin Dillon said. “These grants in particular are significant in continuing to develop a balance of local community needs as well as our own.”
The grants were awarded through the fiscal year 2004 budget of the Transportation Department’s Airport Improvement Program. According to its website, the program sponsors improvement for both public and private airports with rebuilding projects that are related to “airport safety, capacity, security, and environmental concerns,” but does not provide money for profit-driven improvements, such as the addition of extra passenger terminals.
Since 1994, the airport has spent $30 million to reduce noise to 750 of the 1,400 houses within the airport’s noise mitigation zone, according to airport spokesperson Brian O’Neil. The new $2.5 million grant will provide noise proofing insulation and air conditioning to approximately 80 more houses near the airport. Each homeowner will be receiving $30,000-to-$40,000 for the modifications.
Dillon noted that the airport’s current runways were built during World War II, and have undergone extensive upheaval in foundation repairs. He pointed out the need to update the drainage facilities after extending its main runway to 9,250 feet and its secondary runway to 7,000 feet last year. The runway extensions were partially financed by federal grants.
“Combined with our ongoing reconstruction program, these grants will allow us to make further progress . in design and ultimate construction this summer,” Dillon said.
O’Neil said that New Hampshire’s congressional delegation – Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu and Reps. Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass – served an influential role in expanding the airport’s physical plant for the last ten years.
“Our delegation heavily promoted the issue and its importance to the state, and we are all very thankful of them here,” he said.
“This Airport Improvement Program funding – a commitment on behalf of the Department of Transportation to continued growth .will benefit travelers and the airport’s neighbors,” members of the delegation said in a joint statement.
Manchester Airport, which opened in 1927 and now provides 100 passenger flights daily, has undergone two major periods of renovation. A second passenger terminal was added in 1961 and two more terminals were built in 1994.
Dillon said he hopes that the project’s expansion will keep pace with the airport’s growth in operation.
“We have fortunately been able to maintain normal operations while conducting this extensive program, and that is a testament to employees and our airline partners,” Dillon said. “The community shares and takes a lot of the brunt and the negative impact of our services, and we can now continue to deliver a significant regional benefit.”
####
